7 p.m.: Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina

posted at 6:16 pm on November 6, 2012 by Allahpundit

Free advice, take it or leave it: Don’t start obsessing about Ohio until we have a better sense of what’s happening in Virginia. Everyone’s going to go crazy when the OH early voting totals are revealed sometime after 7:30, as that’ll be the first strong sign of whether Romney’s overperforming or not. But there’s a reason I listed VA as a “prerequisite” in yesterday’s post on electoral math. Losing it won’t kill Romney but it’ll put him in the ICU; it would wipe out 13 of the 18 EVs he’s hoping to gain from Ohio. If he drops VA, then he’d have to win Ohio and Wisconsin and Iowa and another state or else somehow pull the rabbit out of the hat in Pennsylvania. Virginia is a big, big deal, and right now it’s a pure toss-up. Team Mitt likes what they’re seeing, though:

Southwestern Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania are reportedly seeing big turnout for Romney. In both states, these are the rural conservative regions and Romney needs to run up his numbers in these areas.

Here’s the state’s page for election returns. Politico flags Henrico and Prince William Counties as ones to watch; both went for O last time. Given how tight the race is and the fact that Virgil Goode is a native son, the third-party vote here could potentially be a problem.

North Carolina is Romney’s safest swing state, so much so that I didn’t bother putting it up on the board in yesterday’s “electoral math made easy” post. RCP’s average has him ahead by three points exactly, so there’s your first benchmark in measuring whether GOP turnout nationally is higher than expected tonight. If this state is called early, that’s a good omen. If Obama somehow makes a contest of it, might be time to start drinking. You can follow the returns here.

Now for the big one. O led by 2.9 points in the final RCP average but anecdotal reports today are promising. First, a shot of optimism from Ari Fleischer:

My GOP sources who know OH are telling me turnout is equal to and greater than Bush 2004…

Early voting is up in red counties and down in blue counties from 2008, which is what you’d expect and necessary for a Romney win. WaPo has a nice rundown of benchmarks for key counties: O’s aiming for close to 70 percent in Cuyahoga County, a la what he pulled in 2008, and he’s hoping to cut into Romney’s advantage in Delaware County the way he did to McCain, winning 36,000 votes there versus 27,000 for Kerry in 2004. Franklin County has gotten more Democratic over the last three elections, with Obama winning it in 60-39 four years ago, and both sides are hoping to win Hamilton County, which was reliably red until O won it in 2008. Here’s the Secretary of State’s page for returns. You can click the link there to view by county.

Speaking with reporters on his campaign plane for the last time, Mitt Romney revealed that he’s only written one speech so far.

“I just finished writing a victory speech,” he told the travelling press. “It’s about 1,118 words. And, uh, I’m sure it will change before I’m finished, because I haven’t passed it around to my family and friends and advisers to get their reaction, but I’ve only written one speech at this point.”

Update: The polls in Indiana closed at 6 p.m. ET. Victory is a foregone conclusion there for Romney but not for Richard Mourdock. As I’m writing this, the Indiana Secretary of State’s page is slow so I’m tracking returns on Politico’s page.

Update: Not unexpected, but not good either:

Only 3% reporting in IN right now, but Romney is up by 22% in those precincts & Mourdock up just 4%

Update: It’s still early in Indiana but David Freddoso notices that Mourdock is underperforming McCain’s county numbers thus far — in a state that McCain lost narrowly. Ari Fleischer sees positive signs for O in Indiana too, but we’ll need Virginia numbers before we can try to deduce any national trends.

Update: Chris Cillizza of WaPo tweets that the bellwether counties in Virginia are Prince William and Loudoun. Both went to Obama in 2008 and then to Bob McDonnell in the gubernatorial race in 2009.

Update: A case study in why you shouldn’t trust early exit polls. According to CNN, the partisan split in Ohio tonight is D+7, which nearly equals the D+8 that Democrats produced in Obama’s wave year of 2008. No way is that correct.

Update: Over at the RCP live blog, Sean Trende is watching Virginia: “But with 77% in, Chesterfield [County] is 45% for Obama. That’s what he got last time. If that holds, it is very difficult for Romney to win.”

Update: Why Virginia is close:

Bush won VA indys by 10 in ’04 and took state by 8 pts. Rom is up 12 w/ them and it’s a dead heat. Went from R+4 to D+4

Update: Consensus on Twitter right now among experts I follow, including Trende, is that Romney isn’t doing what he needs to do in the suburbs in Virginia to turn the state red. It’s still early and college towns appear to be underperforming for Obama, but the state looks to be close, which is in line with the RCP average showing Obama up by less than half a point. Voting in the state could be extended for hours tonight, so if you haven’t gone yet, now’s the time.

Update: Extremely early in Ohio but unless I’m misreading this, the Secretary of State has already posted the early voting totals. O leads right now by roughly 190,000 votes, which is just about what Jay Cost estimated this morning. Obama’s early vote lead from “strong” blue counties versus “strong” red counties four years ago was 323,000.

Update: Another hopeful sign from Conn Carroll: Romney’s up by 12 with 80 percent reporting in Chesapeake County, which Obama won narrowly four years ago.

Update: With 26 percent in, Romney’s lead in North Carolina is less than a point. But Jim Geraghty reports that the mood among GOP insiders about NC, FL, and especially VA has improved markedly in the past half hour or so.

Update: Meanwhile in Indiana, hopes of repealing ObamaCare are waning. Mourdock trails by more than three points with more than 45 percent reporting.

Update: Back in Virginia, Romney’s atoning for his underperformance in Chesterfield County with big numbers up north:

Update: Patrick Ruffini spies a 16-point swing against Obama in Arlington County and is now wondering if Virginia might even be called for the GOP before Florida.

Update: Erika and MKH have you covered in Pennsylvania and Michigan, but I’m hearing that news outlets just called the Senate race in PA for Bob Casey and the presidential race in MI for Obama at the top of the hour. That takes one potential Romney longshot state off the table and makes Pennsylvania seem unlikely. But then, Ohio and Wisconsin have always been our best bets.

Update: Tim Carney, who noted Fairfax Villa as a key bellwether in one of the updates above, is in Fairfax County tonight and doesn’t like what he sees. Interesting difference of opinion right now between him and Trende on the one hand and Rove and Ruffini on the other about Romney using northern Virginia to pull this out.

Update: With 62.5 percent reporting and more than six and a half million votes counted, Romney leads in Florida — by 12,000 votes. Bush/Gore deja vu!

Update: Oof — multiple news outlets now calling Pennsylvania for Obama. That leaves Minnesota as the only longshot on the table for Romney. If, as expected, that goes blue too, then he needs to win either Ohio or Wisconsin. And if Virginia slips through his fingers, he’ll need to win both.

Update: Some quick and dirty electoral math for you now that Michigan and Pennsylvania are off the table. If Obama holds on in Minnesota and Nevada, which he’s expected to do, then he’s at 243 electoral votes. Florida has 29, so if he pulls the upset there, then he doesn’t need any other state. He’d be at 272 and that would be it. Romney desperately needs to hold that slim lead in FL. If instead O pulls an upset in Virginia, that would put him at 256. He could get to 270 then with Ohio or with Wisconsin plus any other state or with Colorado plus Iowa.

Update: Oh boy. Fox News just called Wisconsin for Obama. All down to Ohio now for Romney. He needs to win OH + FL + VA + one other state.

Update: CBS just called New Hampshire for Obama, which simplifies things. If Romney doesn’t hold on in Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina and win Ohio and Iowa or Colorado, he’s done.

Oh: And Fox News just called the Indiana Senate for Joe Donnelly.

Update: With nearly 80 percent in, Obama’s actually ahead in Florida by 14,000 votes. And the word on Twitter is that he’s doing well in the bellwether counties.

Update: ABC just called Minnesota for Obama so all the longshots are now off the table. I assume Nevada will be called within the next 20 minutes or so (it’s 9:55 p.m. ET right now), which means Romney’s remaining path will be basically set. FL + VA + NC + OH + either CO or IA. Or bust.

Update: The good news is, with almost 77 percent in, Romney holds a lead in Virginia of nearly 90,000 votes. The bad news is in Florida, where, with 87 percent in, Obama’s clinging to a 37,000-vote lead. At the RCP blog, Tom Bevan says the remaining precincts there should favor … Obama.

Update: Elsewhere, in the suddenly forgotten state of Ohio, Obama holds a 90,000-vote lead with roughly half the state reporting.

Update: As of 10:30 ET, Romney’s ahead in the national popular vote by 1.3 million votes. Only eight percent of New York has reported, though, and none of the west coast has come in yet, so expect that to disappear quickly. Realistically, if Obama’s on his way to 300 or so electoral votes, he’s not going to lose the popular vote.

Update: O’s up by only 16,000 votes in Florida with nine percent of the state still be counted, but a big chunk of that is in Miami-Dade County, where 30 percent of the vote is still outstanding. That’s Obama’s stronghold; assuming that remaining 30 percent trends blue, he’s going to pad his lead, not lose it.

Update: At 10:54 ET, Romney finally wins the swing state that everyone thought would be easy pickings. The AP just called North Carolina for him. With nearly 98 percent reporting, he leads by two points. Meanwhie, with two-thirds of the vote in, Obama continues to lead in Ohio by 80,000 votes.

Update: Just as I’m reporting the first big Romney victory of the night, the Denver Post is calling Colorado for Obama. That makes the math easy: Romney now needs Ohio, Florida, Virginia, and Iowa. A loss in any of those states ends it.

Update: I’m hearing that George Allen has conceded to Tim Kaine in the Virginia Senate race, which bodes ill for Romney’s chances. He leads by 13,000 votes but there are blue counties still to come in. Larry Sabato called the state a likely win for O just 10 minutes ago.

Looks like the writing’s on the wall. The networks are holding off on calling these states, I think, simply because it amounts to calling the entire election.

Update: NBC just called Iowa for Obama. Assuming all the calls made by the networks are correct tonight (some Republicans are holding out hope for Wisconsin, although it’s been called by both Fox and ABC), then the election’s all but over. We’re just waiting on Nevada now, O’s strongest swing state, to clinch 271.

Update: Assuming O holds on in Florida and ekes it out in Virginia, he’ll have swept all the swing states except NC and will finish with 332 electoral votes, not far off the pace from the 365 he won four years ago. Nearly four years of a miserable economy plus hundreds of millions of dollars in conservative campaign spending was worth 32 electoral votes. Indiana and North Carolina, essentially.

Update: I guess it’s time.

Update: This result is so bad that I think we need to double dip on misery videos. Did the Democrats actually pick up Senate seats this year?

Update: At 12:40 a.m., both the AP and CBS are calling Virginia for Obama. He’s over 300 EVs now, I believe. Still waiting on Florida, where he leads by 50,000 votes with 97.5 percent reporting. He’s ahead in the popular vote now too, with most of California and 20 percent of New York still to report.

Blowback

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Comments

There is no bright side. Barry will grow the size of government like Greece and Spain and saddle the country with an entrenched , unionized government employees.
Barry will fundamentally change the composition of the Supreme Court and far left judges in other levels judicial branch. His impact will long outlast the next 4 years.

I am beyond despair.

bayview on November 7, 2012 at 12:26 AM

He will try, but he is too incompetent to pull it off correctly. If it was someone smarter, like Bill Clinton, FDR…or hell Joseph Stalin, I would be worried, but he is not. Look this guy won because he had an entire entertainment industry and MSM behind him. He won by a very small margin in each battleground state.

Our big task is not worrying about what this clown will or will not do, but how are we going to win back this country in the next four years. That starts with taking away what gives the Democrats and Progressive Liberals power in the first place. It is called CBS, NBC (and associated networks), ABC, CNN, and Hollywood / entertainment industry.

don’t every recall feeling this bad in my entire life. Such utter despair.
Obamacare will kill me financially. Revenge will come when liberals get to fill out all those forms from the IRS. Oh, I forgot, Muslims, welfare recipients, Amish, Congress, all exempt from this monstrosity.

Belle on November 7, 2012 at 12:46 AM

Dear Belle, I think this is the least of our worries. There are powers in this world that wish to anialate our country and the opporunity to do so draws very near.

So how many businesses start the wind down of their business starting tomorrow. I think I am going to start in that direction. I cannot survive another 4 years like the last 4 years. Especially now with Obamacare hanging over me now.

There are idiots who voted for Obama simply because of the color of his skin. They did not vote for his ability to serve as President. That is racist.

I have never been so ashamed of my country as I am right now.

Voter from WA State on November 7, 2012 at 12:47 AM

Those people who voted for him because of his skin color are few and far between. 3% at most of the black voting population. The rest voted because he has a (D) next to his name. I do not think they carried him over the finish line.

My personal opinion is that it is far more likely vote fraud in the machines and other vote fraud that carried the day for Obama.

It’s simple really. Look at the statistics. Take Pennsylvania. Most of the state area went for Romney by an average of 55+%. But…Philadelphia went for Obama 84% and Pittsburgh at 67%. So you have the gangs, welfare recipients, and union thugs controlling the state. Same thing in Ohio.

Perhaps the people we think of as real Americans, the middle class, the heartland are becoming a minority. If that does happen, we will be Europe. Still I wonder what all those people in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and Cleveland will do when there is no one to pay the bills?

Sorry Gumby and others, but sooner or later you too will pay the piper and you won’t like it.

This will be my last campaign. I’ve voted for over 40 years and always had hope, even through Nixon and Carter. Not any more. It isn’t the Presidents I don’t trust it’s the voters.

Listen I hope you’re right. Don’t see much evidence, but I’d love to be wrong. Wake up one day to Jesse Jackson Jr. signing the praises of individual liberty as Obama eliminates the EPA. Greater miracles have happened.

I’m not trying to argue with you and I’m not interested in betting right now for obvious reasons. Would like to ask you though just exactly how do you think the country can survive because I just don’t see it? Exactly what do you think will happen over the next four years? The guy said he would transform the country, looks like to me he’s doing it.

bgibbs1000 on November 7, 2012 at 12:43 AM

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the next four years will be all sweetness and light, I’m just of the opinion that the segment of the Hot Gas commentariat who sound like they’re either ready to relocate to Central America or jump off a cliff are overreacting a bit. Second terms are unproductive and he’s got a Republican House to hamstring him just a little. There’s always time to jump off the cliff and they day they zero my bank account to redistribute it to whomever and send me to a gay marriage camp then find me a spot with a nice view before I jump but for right now it seems a little premature is all.

don’t every recall feeling this bad in my entire life. Such utter despair.
Obamacare will kill me financially. Revenge will come when liberals get to fill out all those forms from the IRS. Oh, I forgot, Muslims, welfare recipients, Amish, Congress, all exempt from this monstrosity.

Belle on November 7, 2012 at 12:46 AM

Dear Belle, I think this is the least of our worries. There are powers in this world that wish to anialate our country and the opporunity to do so draws very near.

I could not watch election coverage tonight. I just wanted to know the results. Thank goodness I didn’t torture myself. Now my 16 yo is near tears and so angry saying his future is screwed. He asked if a new country can be created and leave the coasts! I have no idea what to tell him yet as I feel drained and disheartened too. Good thing the hubby has something to say. We live in IL and voted a straight R ticket. Basically all lost. With everything I was reading on line, I was feeling pretty optimistic. The second time in my life I voted for a GOP candidate was in 2004. That was for Alan Keyes. It was really a vote against BO then. As a registered Dem then, I knew from the start he was so wrong for this country!! What does the other half of the country not get??

We are screwed.
Now what?? Where do we go from here?? Thanks for letting me vent. Wish I could say I feel better now…

bet if we really knew what was happening . . . we would find enormous voter fraud. The result of this election does not match what we were seeing and hearing. It just does not make any sense.

Voter from WA State on November 7, 2012 at 12:56 AM

I didnt want to be the first to say the ol “voter fraud” line, but I truely think something was going on. The momentum, the 30,000 crouds vs the 5,200, the way Mitt gained ground so quickly… it really dont add up.

(1) Thank god for term limits. Obama can’t run next time. The democrats do not exactly have a deep bench of “winners” to call to in 2016. Plus the country will be such a mess by that point it will be hard to spin it. Remember we still control the House. Nothing is going happen over these four years that can’t be fixed, IF (and big if) the GOP has the guts to do what Dems have done, which is when you have power….use it to further our goals.

(2) Maybe Obama will some how get us in a war with China, that way we can cancel the debt we owe them. It was WWII that saved FDR and maybe Obama can at last become his idol. We can have full employment again. Don’t laugh..Obama is pretty inept in getting us into such fixes and Dems support defaulting on loans.

All kidding aside the real problem in MSM and the entertainment industry. We have to defeat them or take them over. It is a propaganda war and right now we are losing it because we don;t control the propaganda machine. We have to win that first…

William Eaton on November 7, 2012 at 12:16 AM

The country will not survive another 4 years. We are on the fast track to bankruptcy.

Obama and CO had 95% of the entertainment complex pushing his BS image along. F***** axelrod obama jarret …. They were ,at best, talented Chicago hacks. Obama had a good look in 2008. He was historic. But he was no great anything in 2012.

WIthout his media props he is NO ONE. No hip kid or liberal single mom or ethnic minority that I know would trudge to the next county to see him speak so you are just wrong. A Duran Duran concert is a bigger draw that barak obama.

I thought concession speeches are usually the best the candidate gives. That was extremely weak to say the least. The guy is a coward! That’s what happens when you play prevent defense after the first debate.

Who would want to be President after the mess Obama is going to leave? Romney could have made a difference. Maybe changed things enough to get us going in the right direction. We are now going to go backwards even more. I can’t think of one person who would want to tackle that mess.

I’ll really be worried if 3 strangers show up at my door & expect to move in. I’ll appear shocked, but they’ll show me homestead certificates from the Dear Leader.
I’ve got to get over this. Stocking up on essentials, you suggest? Great idea. How about building an underground bunker?

THIS IS A WONDERFUL NIGHT! a big middle finger to the forces of intolerance. Racists, Sexists, Bible thumping homophobes exit stage LEFT!!!!!

4 MORE YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DBear on November 7, 2012 at 12:50 AM

FOLKS! See this is a good example of a product of the MSM. Propaganda works on lots of people and DBear is a good example that.

He voted and supports Obama based on emotion, and not facts or logic. If he based it on logic he would have not voted for a man who is too incompetent to be president, and for a party that hates individual liberty, hates freedom of speech, hates economic health, hates jobs, hates religion, hates humanity, etc. etc…in fact they hate a lot of things.

The only way we can change that is defeat the propaganda machine that leads people like DBear into such false notions. DBear may not realize that he is voting for Fascism wrapped in the packaging of tolerance and anti-racism in order to play on his emotions. It has worked well in his case.

There is 1 thing I want to know: When Obama was talking to the Russian head of state and told him that what he had in mind would cost him the election – what, specifically, was that? What was it? Please let me know now before Obama pulls what he is planning to do off.

I didnt want to be the first to say the ol “voter fraud” line, but I truely think something was going on. The momentum, the 30,000 crouds vs the 5,200, the way Mitt gained ground so quickly… it really dont add up.

kcd on November 7, 2012 at 1:00 AM

A Spanish Company tied to George Soros counted the votes of half the states.

Umm, didn’t the House give Obummer everything he wanted? There’s no fight left. Get ready for the tax hikes to pay for, how many? 100,000 more science & math teachers? Yep, that’ll get the economy going.

thought concession speeches are usually the best the candidate gives. That was extremely weak to say the least. The guy is a coward! That’s what happens when you play prevent defense after the first debate.

Elchasebo on November 7, 2012 at 1:01 AM

I’ve pretty much had it with the GOP. I need a third party uprising to turn to, or I’m just going to drop out and survive as best I can. This sucks.

predator on November 7, 2012 at 1:02 AM

Don’t blame the GOP or Romney. I honestly believe that it didn’t matter who ran or what the Party did or didn’t do. Obama and the Dems control the media and give candy to voters. Two things the GOP or any one else cannot or wouldn’t do. As long as people want something for what they believe is nothing, as long as people don’t care about the future, Conservatives or even Moderates can never really win.

This is certainly not what I had hoped or expected. However, all is not lost. There will be dark days ahead, but if we keep our strength and spirits up and prepare ourselves for the coming storm, we may yet make it through. Evil regimes and rulers do not last forever. Determination, not despair, is the attitude to choose at this time.

This is certainly not what I had hoped or expected. However, all is not lost. There will be dark days ahead, but if we keep our strength and spirits up and prepare ourselves for the coming storm, we may yet make it through. Evil regimes and rulers do not last forever. Determination, not despair, is the attitude to choose at this time.

Benedict Nelson on November 7, 2012 at 1:06 AM

The economy is in SHAMBLES, unemployment is TWICE as HIGH as before Obama took office……home prices are rock bottom…..federal spending is OUT OF CONTROL…….and the Democrats managed to ADD to their LIBERAL MAJORITY in the USA Senate…………..

And Obama got re-elected? How?

Face it:

we are a Center-Left Country.

America has forgotten its Constitutional roots. We are a Center-Left country now.

Don’t blame the GOP or Romney. I honestly believe that it didn’t matter who ran or what the Party did or didn’t do. Obama and the Dems control the media and give candy to voters. Two things the GOP or any one else cannot or wouldn’t do. As long as people want something for what they believe is nothing, as long as people don’t care about the future, Conservatives or even Moderates can never really win.

I just believe that this would have been much different if we continually seen the Romney that we seen in the first debate. He received a huge bump in the polls after that, to which the strategy then changed to “prevent mode”. Obama did nothing but lie and attack Romney’s character. Nice guys finish last.

I’m leaving this site after tonight. I cannot stomach reading anything more about Obama and the continued fall of America in practically every way. I’m also tired of the trolls who have such glee at the destruction of our country. They have made the place practically unbearable.

A lot of good people here who I wish good luck to in the future. Me, I’m going turn off the news, find pleasure where I can in the simple things, and hide myself away as much as I can. Thanks for the good discussion and the laughs everyone. Take care.

I’m just of the opinion that the segment of the Hot Gas commentariat who sound like they’re either ready to relocate to Central America or jump off a cliff are overreacting a bit.

alchemist19 on November 7, 2012 at 12:54 AM

Wow. I work for a healthcare company with just over 300 people. Our CEO was a lawyer in the healthcare industry for decades before starting our company several years ago. She has read and understood the Obamacare law. Of the 21 taxes in the law, one of them is insidious… the excise tax, which taxes “excessive” healthcare expenditures as a luxury tax. The problem is that it is indexed to an indicator that increases much slower than the costs of healthcare… which means within a decade it will hit every employer that self-funds healthcare. Her prediction is that within that decade, every healthcare coverage provided by self-funded employers with less than 500 employees will drop their coverage. She said this knowing we have just over 300 people.

With the inflation increases, falling salaries, increasing gas costs, increasing taxes, increasing compliance, fewer jobs, and now a guarantee of loss of healthcare coverage… my family will not survive. It’s simple math. There’s nothing else we can cut… unless we let the house slide into foreclosure and split the family up. That’s my future. And if that’s what you call “overreacting”, well F*CK you.

Sorry, I just don’t agree. The GOP has been giving ground to the left for years, and now the left has the political version of the Golan Heights. They can shell us mercilessly, and we are hard pressed to do anything about it except to shoot uphill. This is a trend that has been going on since Reagan left office. The establishment GOP has played footsie with the Dems, the media, etc. until they have now in many ways become irrelevant.

Yeah, we took more seats in the house, but so what? They kept the WH, expanded their advantage in the senate. I don’t have a lot of faith in Boehner and company holding the fort against the onslaught. I hope I’m wrong, I just don’t think I am.

This is certainly not what I had hoped or expected. However, all is not lost. There will be dark days ahead, but if we keep our strength and spirits up and prepare ourselves for the coming storm, we may yet make it through. Evil regimes and rulers do not last forever. Determination, not despair, is the attitude to choose at this time.

Benedict Nelson on November 7, 2012 at 1:06 AM

True, evil regimes and rulers do fall… usually, along with their countries.

I’m leaving this site after tonight. I cannot stomach reading anything more about Obama and the continued fall of America in practically every way. I’m also tired of the trolls who have such glee at the destruction of our country. They have made the place practically unbearable.

A lot of good people here who I wish good luck to in the future. Me, I’m going turn off the news, find pleasure where I can in the simple things, and hide myself away as much as I can. Thanks for the good discussion and the laughs everyone. Take care.

jazzmo on November 7, 2012 at 1:11 AM

I agree, and I will probably be following you. The sound of the vultures ripping the flesh off our country and chortling gleefully at the last gurgling sounds of life slipping away is just too heartbreaking.

Don’t go.
You’re discouraged and heartbroken right now, but you will mend.
I’ll say it again:
What we need is a bloodless and virtual war on the media.
It will be easy.
They can be destroyed at their own game.

You are forgetting how easily Obama uses Executive Orders. Congress will just be swept aside. We are at the mercy of Barack Obama.

Voter from WA State on November 7, 2012 at 12:58 AM

There’s only so much that he can really do with an Executive Order. A president can’t just make law and SCOTUS has precedent for this (Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer if you’re interested) and the courts aren’t afraid to use it, as they did when they smacked Clinton when he got out of line.

As to the House and the purse strings, so long as we’re on continuing resolutions they will have a hard time taking away money they’ve already passed but once that little bit has run out then all they have to do is refuse to spend more.

Unfortunately, I believe we are officially under judgement. And the only way that judgement will be lifted is when people have suffered to the point that they cry out to God to save them. We have not yet suffered to that point. Things will get a lot worse before they get better. Sadly, knowing the cycles of the Old Testament is not comforting…

And they don’t want to have anything to do with God. They made it very clear at their convention. The Democrat party is corrupt and they have the corrupt media following them. There is no place for good people as it stands right now.

We are a center-left country for the time being, yes. The national debt, however, is nearing a critical breaking point. R&R could have pulled us out of that downward spiral, had they been elected. This is the wind that the left has sown, and before too long, it will come back to bite them. Hard. The bad news, of course, is that it will bite the rest of us, too. Those who despair will be swept awaywith the leftists by the whirlwind they created. Those who keep their resolve up, and their heads down, and weather the storm may yet survive to pick up the pieces and rebuild this country.

My concern now is for the future of my children, for everyone’s children. My oldest will finish his residency in another year and half. I don’t know what his future as an MD will be like under Marxist care but I’m not optimistic. My youngest has a 4 year degree and is working two part time jobs to support himself not in his field of study because he cannot find full time employment.

Their future, the country’s future is bleak. Another recession and financial collapse is coming. You can feel it, and yet we get the trolls on here rejoicing because they think they’ve won something. They’ve lost too, they just don’t know it yet.

Romney was one of the finest men we have ever had run for President. To see him rejected in favor of this evil clown, whose record of incompetence is exceeded only by his record of lying, is the final straw. ApparentIy, the better is the worse, and the worse the better. This was not just one lost election. I really believe that as of this moment we no longer have the basis of a Constitutional Republic. It will go on in name only.

So it is I go my way. I have other work to do. I bid you all farewell and good luck.

dominigan on November 7, 2012 at 1:18 AM
And it has always bothered me that the United States, or some form of, is not mentioned in Revelations… although Libiya, Iran, Israel and many of the middle eastern countries are.

I’ve considered that.
It will require a blitzkrieg type of war, building a massive and irresistible force with momentum.
There are a lot of seething patriots out there with the power of expression and the power of the purse.
The nuclear option, should it come to that, were Obama to take over the Internet, would be a tax rebellion.
Starve the snakes, one way or the other.

Look in the mirror. Look hard. You are looking at the person responsible for this result. We are to blame because we enable them. We play by their rules in their system even though we know it is destroying the country and ourselves. We are like Hank Rearden thinking we can overcome all the stupidity if we just work a little harder. If we just fight a little more. But sooner or later, Atlas will Shrug. The weight will become too much.

That time is now. We must stop playing by their rules within their system. Time to let the system collapse. It’s the only way.

Unfortunately, I believe we are officially under judgement. And the only way that judgement will be lifted is when people have suffered to the point that they cry out to God to save them. We have not yet suffered to that point. Things will get a lot worse before they get better. Sadly, knowing the cycles of the Old Testament is not comforting…

DITTO. We have to be substantially reduced in terms of a world power. Its prophecy and we are no where in it. That means we cease to exist or are no longer considered a national player in the end of times. Even though we know who wins in the end, it’s still frustrating loosing a battle

There’s only so much that he can really do with an Executive Order. A president can’t just make law and SCOTUS has precedent for this (Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer if you’re interested) and the courts aren’t afraid to use it, as they did when they smacked Clinton when he got out of line.

As to the House and the purse strings, so long as we’re on continuing resolutions they will have a hard time taking away money they’ve already passed but once that little bit has run out then all they have to do is refuse to spend more.
alchemist19 on November 7, 2012 at 1:18 AM

You certainly are naive. Who will oppose his executive orders if the SCOTUS supports him? And as far as the purse strings… we’ve gone how many years without a budget?

dominigan on November 7, 2012 at 1:21 AM

We’ve gone years without a budget and been getting by on a series of continuing resolutions. If there’s no budget and Obama directs the EPA to do something noxious then all the House has to do is gut the EPA budget in the next resolution. Simple as that.

Yeah, we took more seats in the house, but so what? They kept the WH, expanded their advantage in the senate. I don’t have a lot of faith in Boehner and company holding the fort against the onslaught. I hope I’m wrong, I just don’t think I am.

predator on November 7, 2012 at 1:14 AM

You missed my point. I’m saying it doesn’t matter who it is. It’s the voters. They decided what they wanted and they got it. And remember, politicians are obligated to their constituents. If their consituents want abortion, entitlements, free goodies, that’s what they’re supposed to give them then. That’s why they were elected.
It isn’t the government we need to change first, it’s the people. And that’s what the Dems with the help of the media have been doing so well. Unless we can change the attitudes of a whole lot of voters, 84% of Philadelphia for example, we will keep getting a government we don’t like. As I said, I’m beginning to think we are becoming the minority in more ways than one.

On that note, I’ll say good night. I think I’ll take a breather from politics, it’s been a long time…over 40 years.

The country will not survive another 4 years. We are on the fast track to bankruptcy.

njrob on November 7, 2012 at 1:00 AM

Yes we will.

“Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing…after they have exhausted all other possibilities.” Winston Churchill

Americans are just exhausting other possibilities.

Conservatives may have to re-brand ourselves and our party needs a serious change. The “Freedom Party” or perhaps the “Liberty Party”, something that sounds good and actually more akin to what we actually believe. We are not really “Republicans” in the traditional sense anyway, and “Conservatives” makes us sound like a bunch of old geezers resisting change. How about “Classical Liberals”? Thomas Jefferson would have approved of that.

Basically we need to crush the MSM and our conservative party needs a face lift, not just cosmetic but a deep re-organization of how we promote the truth. We believe in individual liberty and the constitution. In fact the so called “liberals” in this country are not that liberal, bordering more on control freaks, and the democrat party is not exactly a defender of democratic principles, but sound more like tyrants and statists.

My new narrative would be…

Democrat Party = Statist Party
Progressives = Fascists

New GOP = Liberty Party
New Conservatives = Classical Liberals

That sounds much more appealing to me and I think to the country, and it actually represents who we are.

Strike 1. Can’t wait for those Jeeps that would have been manufactured in Ohio to be built in China for local sale so that Jeep will not have to pay the steep tariff. To remain competitive, it was either build Jeeps in China or eat into its profit margin (we know what the 99%ers and union thugs would have said for Jeep to do!)

Strike 2. Can’t wait for those new model Jeeps to be built in Italy for export to Europe and North America. Jeeps that would have been built in Ohio will not be built in Northern Italy. But, don’t fear! Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat, said that older model Jeeps will continued to be manufactured in Ohio…until they are phased out.

Strike 3. Fiat was supposed to purchase the remaining 41.5% Chrysler stock held by the UAW’s retiree health-care trust for $6 billion, but a funny thing happened between the promises made prior to the election and, well, now. It seems that Fiat is not really much concerned about the UAW or its retiree health-care trust. Instead, it’s main goal is getting its Italian manufacturing and sales stoking, especially in Europe. The UAW has the choice of pushing the Chrysler stock public, but we’ve seen what has happened to GE stock since its big IPO. Look out below!!!!

Strike 4 for Gratis: That’s what you get for giving an American auto company $10s billion of dollar BEFORE managed bankruptcy only to BEGGED an Italian company to take it for NOTING.

Heckva job, Barry!

UMW is dead and the UAW is on its last legs (GM earnings down 14% last quarter!)

Per Gallup, 57% of Americans will not buy a car from a company bailouted by the Fed govt. Yes, I am looking at you GM & Chrysler!